He said: “Louis Murray was a predatory paedophile who abused his position of trust to befriend and groom a young boy. I am glad that his behaviour has been uncovered and he is now facing a lengthy stint behind bars.

“If it wasn’t for the actions of George Commons that day then Murray’s victim may have been subjected to abuse for a much longer period.

“Mr Commons was quick to act when he thought someone was in trouble and did absolutely the right thing when he learnt exactly what was going on.

“It was a brave act that has undoubtedly helped prevent a young person from being harmed further.

“George continues to be a key member of our Farmwatch scheme and this case shows that our joint working with the rural community not only prevents traditional rural crime but also far more serious crime too.”

Mr Common, whose family has been farming in the region for 800 years, said that he was “proud of himself” for taking action and getting the young boy help.

He said: “I was checking some stock and saw the car parked up there. I carried on checking my stock and then when I came back the car was still there and I thought that something wasn’t right.

“I have come across a suicide attempt before where they were trying to gas themselves and I thought to myself I hope they weren’t trying to do something like that.

“So I went over to the car and I had a shock with what I saw. I looked in the window and saw Murray sitting next to a naked lad who just looked up at me.

“I just said ‘this isn’t right’ and I opened the door and attempted to grab the arm of the lad. That is when Murray drove off and rammed my car to try and leave. As he was doing it he was saying ‘sorry, I just have to go’.

“I would definitely do it again and as it turns out I am proud of what I have done. It could have saved a lot of other lads and saved him from going through anything further.

“But in many ways I am typical of a Northumberland farmer who was just looking after his patch. I have been part of FarmWatch for a while and I would always report something suspicious.

“I have been involved in the scheme from the very beginning and I have always been one for calling the police if I see something that is not right. We are a tight knit community and this shows how much it works.”

The judge ordered that Murray must sign the sex offenders’ register for life and also made him subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.

He also ordered that Mr Common be paid £400 from the public purse as a token of gratitude for his actions in bringing Murray to justice.

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Sajid Javid speech was received with warmth as he promised to prioritise police spending as he offered an olive branch to rank-and-file officers.

Mr Javid was welcomed to the Police Fed conference and received support from the front line cops following Amber Rudds poor reception last year over budget cuts and staffing reductions.

This was a testing first speech the Home Secretary who wanted to try and draw a line under the era of running battles between the Government and the police.

Following mounting pressures faced by officers faced with policing cuts.

As of September there were 121,929 officers across the 43 territorial forces in England and Wales – a fall of nearly 20,000 compared with a decade earlier.

A pleasure to speak to @PFEW_HQ about how I will approach policing, and hear concerns from the frontline with crime. I will give you the tools, powers and back-up you need to do the job #polfed18pic.twitter.com/xS85Rtotaf

Referring to stop and search, he told the Police Federation of England and Wales’ (PFEW) annual conference in Birmingham: “Some of you don’t feel comfortable using it – and that’s not how it should be.

“I have confidence in your professional judgment. So let me be clear – I support the use of stop and search.

“You have to do your job and that means protecting everyone.”

He said evidence shows that black people are more likely to be a homicide victim than any other ethnic group.

“If stop and search can mean saving lives from the communities most affected, then of course that has to be right,” Mr Javid said.

Following a spate of violence across London and the UK there has been a sharp reduction in stop and search activity , with use of the powers at the lowest level.

Cops faced heavy criticism after they were accused of unfairly focusing on black and minority ethnic individuals.

Theresa May introduced measures in 2014 to ensure stop and search could not be used in this way.

Mr Javid acknowledged that police officers have an increased demand saying “I’m not arrogant enough to turn up here after three weeks in the job and tell you how to do yours,”

Mr Javid added that the government have had to make difficult decisions since 2010 and that he does not have a magic wand to fund everything needed but he said he was “listening and i do get it”.

“We need to think more about the long-term funding of policing.

“I will priorities police funding in the Spending Review next year.”

He said that, including funds raised through council tax, more than £1 billion extra cash is being invested in policing now than three years ago.

Addressing the fact that he had not spent much time in the role, he said that while the position of Home Secretary was his fifth in Government, he had seen the issues involved in policing and worked with the service during his other roles.

He continued that it was “not all about funding” and the Government needed to do more to “protect the protectors”, such as tougher penalties for those who attack emergency services workers, changing the laws on police pursuits, and updating their kit.

Mr Javid pledged to provide “tools, the powers and the back-up that you need to get the job done…

“For those of you who stand on the front line, be in no doubt that I will be standing with you.”

Is @sajidjavid the first guy in the @ukhomeoffice that truly knows and understands policing? His brother is a cop. There is blue blood in the family.